From the back

The Englishmen have often been portrayed as a calm and peaceful people. However, their history is characterized by many and heated oppositions, not at least in the area of the church. Strong individualists, not always inclined to compromise, leave their mark on different epochs.

A number of personalities and episodes from the history of the English church - from the Celts during the 6th century to J R R Tolkien in the 1970s - are treated in these essays. Sten Hidal tries to show how Catholicism - in a broad term - runs like the main thread through this exciting and varying history. At the same time, the author also sheds light upon different aspects of English society and political history during more than a thousand years. Apparently, there is big difference in mentality between the Celtic spirited and almost exhilarated ideal in life, and Lord Shaftesbury's utterance: "Live like a gentleman and believe that God is a gentleman"; but there is also a lot which unites.